17to85

I for one much prefer the straightforward just beat the guy across from you type defenses. I don't think you need to be trying to rely on confusion as a defense, that just leads to getting figured out and exposed. At least in a more standard defense if something is getting exposed you know you have to replace the player.

Jim Daley's time his past. His last stint as a special teams coordinator was woeful to say the least. That being said, here's more news if you will about the Argos coaching staff... Kirk Penton ‏@PentonKirk 28s Casey Creehan and Will Plemons both on #Argos new coaching staff under DC Tim Burke. #Bombers Burke implied and sometimes even more than implied it was our lack of talent for our woes. I guess he and Creehan get a second kick at the can with the Argo's defense. So, if the Argo defense shites the bed this year, or at the very least regress from what they achieved last year, is it now on them or can they continue to use the lack of talent reason (excuse to some)? Or will they come up with another explanation, new system, players left, injuries, head coach etc etc? The one thing Burke excelled at as a head coach was passing the blame to anyone but himself. As a DC he'll be fine, Creehan as a LB coach will be fine (notice how the linebackers played better last year than they did the year before? Creehan obviously helps there) but moving up the ladder was just a spectacular failure. The immediate drop off that the Bombers showed when Lapo was fired and Burke promoted should have been enough to tell them to not just give the job to Burke but I guess the mind was made up from the get go so we had to suffer through last season.

Very different. First off, the QB-centre exchange is the most important skill in football. You can't do anything without it. You can't just plug anyone in at centre and expect them to be able to get the ball to the QB at a CFL level, which is the problem with guys like Kowalczuk and Parenteau etc. That is a huge skill in and of itself. The centre makes some calls to protections, but this is way overrated in Canadian football, most plays have the protections built in and basically what both the centre and QB both do is count how many guys are inside the tackles and which gap the defence is centered on, basically what they are playing as the strong side, which 99% of the time mirrors the offence or the width of the field anyways. This is different than American football, mostly the strong side of the field down south depends on the strong hand of the QB since the field is not nearly as wide. This is most of what the calls are, and the protection adjusts based on it, but every guy can see that when they look up, and if you're playing somewhere noisy, there's not a lot you can change at the line. Everyone is watching for potential blitzers, that mostly falls on the QB to make a call to react to that. adjust a route. OL have to block from their inside gaps out and do their best to take whoever comes...that's why you'll often see guys coming off the edge free when a defence sends more than 5. When you see guys come free through the 4 middle gaps, that means someone really screwed up, either took the wrong block or got completely dominated physically. Zone run blocking, it doesn't matter where the defence lines up or how many, they are blocking gaps and chipping upfield. Zone plays head to a side of the field, not a specific gap, you're basically creating a 3 on 2 situation for your blockers all along the LOS on the play side, allowing at least one of those guys to chip and get to the next level to take a LB or HB. The RB reacts and finds the opening. So really a centre doesn't call anything there, every OL needs to read their initial block and come out of their stance properly to get that done. The first 3 steps are key, can't waste any if you need to get upfield, or get a bit wider. I guess it depends what you think a sub-par lineman is. IMO, most of the centres in the league lately have all been subpar, meaning they'd really suck if you moved them to another spot where they actually ended up blocking someone 1 on 1 on the majority of snaps. But that's where the snapping part comes in, a guy who can snap very well and consistently can make a career, even if he struggles to make a block. Just look at a guy like Dominic Picard. If I had a dime for everytime he's literally been carried through the pocket by a DT, I could pay for my season tickets this year. Mostly you're just hoping they can be a good speed bump. Guards need to be more mobile, presumably you want them to be able to get to the 2nd level (LB's, HB's) in run blocking, although there are enough guys around the league lately that don't really have that ability (Kabongo for one). They both need to be smart enough to know where their block is and guards need to be patient enough in pass protection to not give up their inside gaps. Patience in OL is a sign of intelligence and football smarts IMO. This is really what the blitz is all about, challenging the OL to give up their inside gaps and a more direct route to the QB, the QB can read the outside rush, when it's coming right at him there's not much he can do. Relating this excellent post to Morley... we would be better with him at centre than at guard IF he was a satisfactory snapper, because his blocking inadequacies would be marginalized? Seems like a match made in heaven for Morley. Obby Khan started out as a tackle then guard then centre, Morley was a tackle to start then guard now maybe centre, seems like the natural career progression for those guys who just aren't talented enough to play the outside positions.

Isn't that pretty close to what we were running last year? only half, all the Bombers were doing last year was confusing themselves.

and yet people screamed bloody murder when our last GM showed a similar attitude....

Guard. Less to think about. Basically a barroom brawler who just has to physically beat up the guy across. C has so much more to do on the field, incl calling formation and such. I actually believe that centre is the less physically demanding position. As long as a guy can snap and has a brain in his head should be able to play centre.

I agree re: inside o-line. It's scary. Sadly, the only way it's going to get better in the forseeable future is a prospect stepping up. Guys who can anchor an o-line just don't make it to free agency frequently enough to bank on that route. They could go for a trade, but the price is going to be high. It'll be a great day when we can stop fretting over the o-line. I think Greaves has developed into a VERY solid Guard Except that all too often he still looks very much like a converted DT. He needs to elevate his game more consistently because, as it stands now, he still gets beat quite regularly. Greaves is still something of a project. What we need is to hire a damned good offensive line coach. Mack loved to draft athletic guys, so there's guys with some tools to work with on the roster, need a coach who can turn them into players. Delmonaco didn't do much of that so the only way the line is going to improve is if we hire someone who can help players improve.

but... we haven't had a gooder since Roberts... OR to a lesser extent Ried. If Charles Roberts is the standard for RBs then you are always going to be disappointed. Guy was one of the all time greats. Reid was good, Simpson was good, Garrett was good. You simply don't need to worry about rb because you go down to the states and you bring in 2 or 3 guys who can play no problems.

Given how the coaching made receivers worse I would have liked to have seen Matthews with a chance to rebound after Crowton was fired. Worked for Denmark. Matthews just strikes me as a guy with the right kind of attitude. He never once bitched about having to be back in the CFL for a 2nd year despite having NFL interest. If he doesn't get an NFL shot then I hope to god we get him back here.

God damn it! Can we start getting some ******* summer time games in Calgary so I might actually have a chance to go to them?

He took forever to even be a guy you could play. He was kept around because of his athleticism, managed a couple good years then regressed last season. Not the kind of guy I'm too broken up about losing. Got more chances than anyone else would have just based on his athleticism.

I gave it a B, it's good but nothing really wowed me.

but that's the best time to think about things and solve all the worlds problems. Seriously you aren't comfortable alone in your head for that length of time?

Sorenson was no screaming hell for us but now I'm not seeing a centre that's better than him... have to see what the plan is.

Yeah but we already had the bar set really low for our coordinators.

This whole "I wuz hacked!!11!!" thing needs to stop. Having someone grab your phone and posting something is not hacking, leaving your **** open on a computer is not being hacked, saving your password in your browser for someone else to use is not hacking. Use the language properly. What they mean to say is "I'm a ***** and people are messing with me" or Glenn just ****** up trying to send private messages, that's the one that makes sense.

Toronto games might be worth watching this year.

Moore may not be as much of a sure thing as you are painting it. He's still a bit of a risk, but it's a potential high reward that Walters obviously feels comfortable taking. It's entirely possible that last season for Moore was an aberration, but it might also be that he's just breaking out and the Bombers scooped him up at the right time. Which it is remains to be seen and they paid quite a bit of money to find out. If it works out no one will complain and they'll praise Walters for a shrewd move, if it doesn't pan out it'll be an overpay for an american receiver that you can find anywhere. We all hope it's the first option not the second one.

A lot of the crazier Christian denominations though actually believe that the Bible is 100% word of God truth. They're ridiculous of course but that's what a lot of the fundies believe which is why they come up with all sorts of this nonsense. It's all quite ironic that they preach such intolerance because it's the most unchristian stance available. Christ was all about loving everyone no matter what and not judging anyone.

It's an interesting thought on Moore. The Bombers obviously think he is a break out star and worth going forward with, be interesting to see if he is or not.

Denmark turned the corner last year when he was moved to slot, didn't he? Denmark was the 2nd best rookie to Chris Williams in his first year then he started to suck until Gary Crowton was fired at which point he started to look good again... So to me Denmark was hampered by a poor OC moreso than anything. I think he will surprise some people this year.

careful you're going to start a giant rant

Yes it is. Both comments show ignorance and are uncalled for. That's like someone calling a homosexual a "fruit" while another calls that person a "****". The words don't matter, it's the message behind them does. edit: European cigarettes!! They're not the same. Yeah they're both ignorant but one sounds like a joke while the other is straight up intolerance. I got no problem with ignorant jokes because you gotta be able to laugh. Yeah you shouldn't be putting them on twitter but still a joke is pretty harmless compared to denouncing someone for being gay.

Followed quickly by "he was never that good anyway" If he re-signed with a whopper raise ? "worth every penny" one of the most under rated players in the league.

Fans admitting to over reacting? I'll take the odds of the Oilers making a late run towards the playoffs instead. They're only 17 points back and are something like 4-1-1 in their last 6, so you're saying there's a chance.....